Moving House Advice please

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NE5

NE5

NE5

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Hello, I'm selling my flat, and buying another one.

I don't need finance, I can add to what i get for my current flat, and buy the new one outright.

The new one isn't as old as the current one, but should i get it surveyed ?

I did this in the past, but in the past i took out a mortgage and had to. This time I don't.

If I do, what is the going rate, and what are the different levels of survey. And do I find my own surveyor
 
What age is the new property?

For the biggest purchase of (most) peoples lives, yes I would recommend getting the "structural" /most in depth survey possible from a local competent RICS surveyor.
 
From my n=1 experience: It affects the reinstatement value which is one of the things that affects the premium so yes there's a bit of impact on insurance. I'm in Scotland where the seller has to conduct a survey before listing, and that number was what went into our insurance. Are you sure you can estimate the reinstatement value yourself without one? I think reinstatement is what ends up being insured, not your purchase price.
For costs, i think they're £300-500ish here, probably equivalent to your medium survey. If there's anything non standard about the flat or signs of structural damage you probably want to look into it in a bit more detail.
 
For reinstatment cost just use the BCIS calculator or ~ £2.5k psm.

As for whether or not you should do a survey depends on you. It sounds like a modern building, so the likelihood of there being structural issues is incredibly low and would be insured anyway.

I've recently bought a house and only had the valuation survey done for mortgage requirements. I'm a surveyor anyway so that helps but in my experience, big issues are generally glaringly obvious i.e. cracking, subsidence, leaks etc. In terms of a block of flats, you're not in control of the big ticket items such as the roof so a survey wouldn't really help you.

The only thing I would say to investigate is if there are any big ticket spends coming up (such as the aforementioned roof) but if it's not very old, I doubt there would be anything. There are things like redecorations etc. that everyone will pay towards every X years (whatever the managing agent and/or lease dictates).
 
Definitely.

You can get different levels of survey, I think a level 2 Homebuyer looks at pretty much anything accessible but a basic level 1 Condition survey is a brief look at modern properties in apparent good condition. Level 3 Full Structural, nah I don't think so.

Level 2 is generally recommended though I think.

Having had a few done, yeah they can seem like a waste of money (I think out last one mentioned the shower silicone needed redoing...oh no!!!) but they may find something.
 
I wish I had a full survey performed of the house we bought. In Scotland the survey is commissioned by the seller so they choose the level of the survey and paying for another survey yourself seems wasteful since it's just been done. The things that were missed by the surveyor would have been found by Stevie Wonder; some of the issues would have meant a definite reduction in my offer had I known about them.

Get the best survey you can afford even if it's been performed recently.
 
Mysterae_ said:
I wish I had a full survey performed of the house we bought. In Scotland the survey is commissioned by the seller so they choose the level of the survey and paying for another survey yourself seems wasteful since it's just been done. The things that were missed by the surveyor would have been found by Stevie Wonder; some of the issues would have meant a definite reduction in my offer had I known about them.

Get the best survey you can afford even if it's been performed recently.
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This is an interesting way of doing things actually.
Does this mean all sellers just default to commissioning the lowest level of survey for all sales?
 
sparton_SPA said:
This is an interesting way of doing things actually.
Does this mean all sellers just default to commissioning the lowest level of survey for all sales?
Click to expand...

Quite probably. No seller wants to pay for a survey that could paint their house in a bad light.

Having the seller pay for the survey does reduce the cost for buyers and prevents lots of surveys being done (copy/pasted more likely) on the same property.
 
Still don't see how this has a positive effect on the buying process. Most buying processes favour the protection of the buyer, rather than the vendor.
In this case seems like the other way round - although I imagine when the law was put into place, it was more to force vendors to get a survey done on the property so that it is highlighting all the defects.
 
Mysterae_ said:
I wish I had a full survey performed of the house we bought. In Scotland the survey is commissioned by the seller so they choose the level of the survey and paying for another survey yourself seems wasteful since it's just been done. The things that were missed by the surveyor would have been found by Stevie Wonder; some of the issues would have meant a definite reduction in my offer had I known about them.

Get the best survey you can afford even if it's been performed recently.
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This is very useful to know, thanks.

We'll be buying in Scotland (selling up here and renting until we do because of the different systems being a headache on top of everything else). I hadn't even considered it may be worthwhile doing another survey on top, I'll keep that in mind.
 
adidan said:
This is very useful to know, thanks.

We'll be buying in Scotland (selling up here and renting until we do because of the different systems being a headache on top of everything else). I hadn't even considered it may be worthwhile doing another survey on top, I'll keep that in mind.
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We moved from the south of England to the Scottish Highlands almost five years ago so I know the headaches!

It's extremely rare to find a solicitor that knows and that can practice both elements of English law and Scottish law, so you need one of both. With you renting first that will help the logistics on that side. I couldn't find a place to rent (pets) so bought and sold at the same time. That required two solicitors that were at the top of their game that I could visit in person and rely on. It all worked out in the end!

If you've not already looked in to it, research LBTT which is the Scottish version of Stamp Duty.

Good luck with your move!
 
Mysterae_ said:
We moved from the south of England to the Scottish Highlands almost five years ago so I know the headaches!

It's extremely rare to find a solicitor that knows and that can practice both elements of English law and Scottish law, so you need one of both. With you renting first that will help the logistics on that side. I couldn't find a place to rent (pets) so bought and sold at the same time. That required two solicitors that were at the top of their game that I could visit in person and rely on. It all worked out in the end!

If you've not already looked in to it, research LBTT which is the Scottish version of Stamp Duty.

Good luck with your move!
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Cheers!

Aye, we're doing a straight cut - selling here, renting there and then be an immediate position to move when the time's right a bit further down the road.

Kudos for doing an English sale/Scottish purchase in one move, seems a right headache.

Had a cursory look at their version of stamp duty, thanks for the link though. :)
 
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